Italy's participation in the F-35 procurement program was initially decided in 1998 by the left-wing government under Massimo D'Alema, the leader of the former Italian Communist Party, which invested US$10 million in the Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) of the program. In 2002 the right-wing government led by Silvio Berlusconi confirmed this strategic choice by committing $1,028 billion to the System Design and Development (SDD) phase and by signing the US-Italy memorandum of understanding (MOU). In 2007 the left-wing government guided by Romano Prodi signed the bilateral MOU for the Production, Sustainment, and Follow-on Development (PSFD) phase with an investment of $904 million. Finally, in 2009, again under a Berlusconi government, the Italian parliament approved the acquisition of 131 F-35, including 69 F-35 A (Conventional Take Off and Landing, or CTOL) variants and 62 B (Short Take Off Vertical Landing, or STOVL) variants. At that time, the Italian government also agreed to build a Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) and Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul, and Upgrade (MROU second is the industrial rationale, based on the strategic interests of Italy's defence industry in participating in the procurement program; third is the multinational rationale-the strong inclination of Italian policymakers to pursue defence procurement and, generally speaking, defence policy in multinational frameworks; and fourth is the transatlantic rationale, based on the importance Italy attaches to bilateral relations with the US and NATO. Beginning in 2012, the budgetary constraints caused by the Eurozone crisis in almost all European countries, including Italy, fuelled a political debate over the costs and benefits of Italian participation in the F-35 program that revolved largely around these four rationales. …